Fu Shanhe

Chapter 142: Rebellion in Guangxi
The capital, Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"Since the outbreak of the Liaodong War, the Ministry of Revenue has allocated 3.8 million taels of silver and 360,000 shi of grain..."

Shangguan Yu counted the accounts in front of everyone.

It is not easy to be the Minister of Revenue of Dayu. The court has limited income, but there are countless places to spend money.

Military expenditure is the biggest expense, and the nine borders are all money-eating beasts.

Once the war is started, money will be spent like water.

It just so happened that Emperor Xiaozong passed away this year, and the funeral was another huge expense.

The late emperor requested that everything be kept simple, but the empress dowager disagreed!
It is sad enough to see a loved one die, how can one tolerate such a hasty funeral for one's son?

The new emperor is filial and naturally would not disobey his mother on such matters.

The ministers were even more afraid to say a word. It was tragic enough that the late emperor had no children, and no one was too embarrassed to suggest cutting spending.

This part of the expenditure has just begun. Emperor Tianyuan died young and the imperial mausoleum has not yet been completed.

The body is still kept in the imperial palace and can only be buried after the imperial mausoleum is completed.

The new emperor ascends the throne and there are a series of ceremonies, which cost a lot of money.

This year the problem has been solved.

The emperor will be getting married next year, and he will have to select concubines from across the country, which will be another huge expense.

No matter how tight the finances are, these expenses cannot be saved.

After listening to Shangguan Yu's explanation, Ji Zhaoshun's face became terribly gloomy.

Today's scene was completely prepared for him.

The root cause of all this was that at the coronation ceremony that just ended, he followed the example of ancient wise rulers and announced the exemption of this year's autumn taxes.

The tactic of surprise attack not only caught the ministers off guard, but also won the support of countless gentry.

The price paid was a 40% reduction in the court's fiscal revenue this year, leaving a fiscal hole of tens of millions of taels before everyone.

Ji Zhaoshun, knowing that he had caused trouble, was panicked when faced with the angry gazes of his ministers.

Deep down in his heart, he cursed Yin Zuo and the other two who came up with the idea.

He was encouraged to find an opportunity to resist the dictatorship of the Eight Ministers, but no one told him how serious the consequences of doing so would be.

Fortunately, he was cautious and only said to exempt the autumn tax, and did not foolishly announce a three-year tax exemption.

Otherwise, it would not be a financial gap of more than 10 million, but a direct declaration of bankruptcy of Dayu.

After the problem was pointed out, there was silence in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The mess the emperor had created was too big, and it was no longer a problem that could be solved by simply assigning one person to take the blame.

When it comes to specific issues, the Qingliu Party members chose to remain silent, as making money is not what they are good at.

In the past, whenever there was a fiscal deficit, the eunuchs were responsible for finding ways to raise money, and they were responsible for finding faults on the sidelines.

The situation changed after the new emperor ascended the throne.

Knowing that they were not favored by the new emperor, the eunuch party had no other choice but to instinctively participate in the party struggle.

In the beginning, we worked so hard to make money because it was instructed by Emperor Tianyuan.

Now that their masters are gone and no one is urging them to make money, the eunuch party headed by Zuo Guangen naturally became silent.

Having lost the support of the eunuch party, the reformists, who already had little say, were further marginalized and had no say.

The other seven ministers and two military representatives are definitely not suitable for this kind of work.

The five cabinet ministers are all civil servants. Doing this kind of job that is bound to offend people requires them to consider their reputations.

What's more, most of their supporters are civil servants, even if they have ideas.

Before he gained power, he was unable to push forward reforms and raise enough money from the public.

Unable to bear the gazes of the crowd, Ji Zhaoshun gritted his teeth and said:

"This was my mistake, as I ignored the financial difficulties of the court.

But you are serious. Now that you have said it, you cannot take it back.

How about this, I will take out five million taels of silver from the inner treasury, and I will leave the rest of the problems to you all to solve!"

Ji Zhaoshun, who has never suffered, obviously doesn't know how difficult it is to make money.

Most of the wealth that the previous emperor had accumulated with great difficulty was taken out by him in one go.

“No one is perfect except saints.

Your Majesty is able to recognize your mistakes and correct them in a timely manner, which shows the demeanor of a wise ruler in ancient times.

This is a blessing for Dayu. If you have any good ideas, please feel free to speak up."

Pang Hengsheng said helplessly.

He couldn't force the emperor to retract the first edict issued after the new monarch officially ascended the throne.

The fact that Ji Zhaoshun was willing to take out five million taels from the inner treasury had exceeded his expectations.

He originally thought that the emperor would only symbolically pay a few tens of thousands of taels and then throw the problem to them.

It seems that the current emperor is still responsible.

It's just that they are young and ignorant and easily fooled.

"Prime Minister, this is difficult to handle!
The funding gap is so huge that it is impossible for the court to get such a huge sum of money in a short period of time.

For now, we can only find ways to save money.

The Ministry of Finance should first list the items with the largest expenditures and see if some of them can be cut.”

The Deputy Minister Lu Shoutong said slowly.

Although today's matter is tricky, it is also the opportunity that all the ministers have been waiting for.

If the emperor does not make mistakes, how can their importance be highlighted?

Ever since the new emperor ascended the throne, some people in the court have been clamoring to return power to the emperor.

There is nothing wrong with this. They are not tyrants, so it is acceptable for them to transfer power early.

However, the new monarch's performance was disappointing. He only wanted to take back power but did not offer any benefits in exchange.

Even if a few honorary titles were conferred to appease the people a little, the situation would be very different.

I don’t know whether the new monarch is “unrighteous” or not, but he is definitely “ungrateful”.

Facing the reality, everyone should think about themselves. "Don't embarrass Lord Shangguan. The biggest expense of the court has always been military spending.

But military expenditure is a necessary expense, and the soldiers on the front line are still fighting hard. We can't let them fight the enemy with empty stomachs.

If you want to cut military spending, then cancel the previous decisive battle plan and adopt a defensive strategy on the Liaodong front. "

As soon as the Left Commander-in-Chief Jing Guoliang finished speaking, the hall suddenly became lively.

Half of them supported it, while half of them gave up. The two sides started arguing directly.

Both sides have their own reasons and neither can convince the other.

"quiet!"

"My Lord, if we fight the Northern Tartars now, what are our chances of winning?"

Pang Hengsheng asked with concern.

For this decisive battle, Dayu has invested too much manpower, financial resources and material resources in order to solve the border threat in Liaodong in one fell swoop.

If the decisive battle is canceled suddenly, most of the resources invested previously will be wasted.

“The chances of winning depend entirely on the money and food that the court can provide.

If there is enough money and food, it can be supplied on time without interruption.

If the imperial court does not demand a time for a decisive battle and gives the initiative to the front-line generals, then our chances of winning are at least 90%.

If the court is short of financial resources and has to rush troops to the front to find the enemy's main force for a decisive battle, then the chances of winning are less than half!"

Jing Guoliang said frankly.

These are the results of the Governor's Office's assessment, which takes into account various factors.

From the strategic planning stage, the Governor's Office was opposed to a quick victory in Liaodong.

This conclusion was drawn after in-depth analysis based on the experience of fighting against the grassland peoples.

In the eyes of ordinary people, defeating the enemy on the frontal battlefield is considered a victory in the battle.

Anyone who truly understands military affairs knows that when encountering a grassland people, simply defeating them is meaningless.

Unless we can completely annihilate or severely damage the enemy's main force, trouble will begin after the war.

They can abandon their old nests and keep circling on the grassland, making it difficult for the imperial army to go deep into the grassland to hunt them down.

If we cannot completely wipe out the enemy, we will have to endure long-term harassment from the enemy.

If the imperial court could continue to invest high amounts of military expenditures, then these attacks would be minor problems.

Once military spending is reduced, the remnants who escaped before may come back at any time.

“Duke Chengguo is right. The key to victory in this war is money and food.

Once the decisive battle begins, it will not be over in a few months.

Even if we defeat the main force of the enemy, we must be prepared to spend the next five or ten years in Liaodong."

Right Commander Li Yuan spoke immediately afterwards.

The war was launched mainly out of political necessity.

With the establishment of the new monarch, the political significance has disappeared.

Considering the court's financial problems, the best option now is to appropriately reduce the scale of the war and reduce fiscal spending.

The military felt there was no need to fight, let alone the civilians.

Ji Zhaoshun, who was sitting on the dragon throne, wanted to speak, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.

Everyone is busy cleaning up the mess he created himself, and it would be too much for him to jump out and sabotage him.

……

"Report!"

"An urgent message came from Guangxi six hundred miles away: the White Lotus Sect has rebelled!"

Upon hearing the news, the originally noisy discussion in the hall suddenly stopped.

House seemingly endless rain.

The outbreak of the White Lotus Rebellion at this time was undoubtedly another blow to the sick Dayu.

As the emperor, Ji Zhaoshun was the first to see the urgent news.

"Humph!"

"The Governor of Guangxi has reported.

People from the Mine Tax Inspectorate beat three miners to death in Sicheng Prefecture and sold their wives and daughters to brothels, sparking public outrage in the local area.

The governor of Sicheng Prefecture stepped forward to stop it and was whipped.

The White Lotus Sect saw an opportunity and instigated the local people to kill the tax collector and raise the banner of rebellion.

The local garrison sent out troops to suppress the rebellion, but was defeated miserably in the battle.

The rebels are spreading to surrounding provincial capitals with Surabaya as the center.

The situation showed signs of getting out of control, and the Governor of Guangxi pleaded with the court to send reinforcements to suppress the rebellion.

......"

After listening to the emperor's narration, Zuo Guangen, who was sitting in the position of assistant minister, began to sweat on his forehead.

At this critical juncture, such a fatal thing happened, which is simply a shame for our ancestors.

He had finally gained the upper hand in the party struggle and was thinking about the aftermath when suddenly a huge bombshell hit him.

The Mine Tax Inspectorate was a special agency established to solve the financial difficulties of the imperial court.

All the main officials are eunuchs, who are definitely the direct descendants of the eunuch party.

Now that the mining tax supervisor has caused trouble, it is undoubtedly a fatal blow to the eunuch party which is at a critical moment in the party struggle.

Faintly, Zuo Guangen sensed a conspiracy.

This rebellion came so coincidentally that it seemed as if it was specially prepared for him.

If the occasion had not been wrong, he would have ordered the Imperial Guards to investigate the case thoroughly.

……

(End of this chapter)